Effect of Dysfunctional Attitudes on Orientation of Anger in Major Depressive Disorder

The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of Dysfunctional Attitudes in delineating the orientation of Anger among Major Depression Disorder patients and control population. Dysfunctional Attitude has long been established as a precursor of depressive symptoms. However there is a dearth of studies on the correlates of Dysfunctional Attitude and orientation of Anger. A total of 60 participants (30 Major Depression Disorder, 30 Control) were asked to fill up a self-report paper pencil questionnaire that measured orientation of Anger, Neuroticism and Dysfunctional Attitude. Results indicated higher Anger suppression, Dysfunctional Attitude, and higher neuroticism scores for the clinical group than control group. When Neuroticism was controlled, Dysfunctional Attitude was found to be positively correlated with temperamental and Internalized Anger in the clinical group; however in the control group it remained uncorrelated with the direction of Anger. Stepwise multiple regressions indicated Dysfunctional Attitude to be significant predictor of Internalized Anger in clinical group while Neuroticism was found to be a significant predictor of Internalized Anger for the control group. The present finding suggests the role of Dysfunctional Attitude in defining the orientation of Anger among the Major Depression Disorder group and also elucidates the relationship between Dysfunctional Attitude and Neuroticism with both Internalized and Externalized Anger.